May 5, 2011

Northwestern (14-25, 6-9 Big Ten) at Indiana (25-19, 6-9 Big Ten)
Friday, May 6, 2011; 2:05 p.m. CT
Saturday, May 7, 2011; 11:05 a.m. CT
Sunday, May 8, 2011; 12:05 p.m. CT
Sembower Field (2,250)
Bloomington, Ind.
TV: Big Ten Network (Brian Barnhart and Scott Pose) (Saturday only)
Gametracker: NUsports.com
In-game Twitter updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
Northwestern Game Notes (PDF)

Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday
LHP Matt Gailey (2-3, 4.32 ERA, 25 IP, 17 K) vs. LHP Blake Monar (4-3, 3.23 ERA, 69.2 IP, 55 K)
Saturday
RHP Luke Farrell (4-2, 3.60 ERA, 60 IP, 50 K) vs. LHP Joey DeNato (5-3, 2.96 ERA, 45.2 IP, 39 K)
Sunday
TBA vs. LHP Brian Korte (2-2, 3.92 ERA, 39 IP, 17 K)

EVANSTON, Ill. -- With only three weekends left in the Big Ten season, Northwestern and Indiana square off in a crucial three-game series in Bloomington. The teams enter the series tied with Michigan for seventh place in the conference standings with the top six squads advancing to the Big Ten tournament.

The series gets underway at 2:05 p.m. Central time Friday. Saturday's contest is set for 11:05 a.m. first pitch and is being televised live by Big Ten Network. Sunday's series finale is slated for a 12:05 p.m. start.

Northwestern brought its bats in each of its first two appearances on the Big Ten Network this season. The Wildcats came up just short in a shootout at Ohio State April 3, falling 15-14. NU pounded out a season-high 21 hits in the contest. The 'Cats won their other televised appearance 14-1 at home against Purdue April 23, socking five home runs in the victory.

The Wildcats took the opening game of their home series with Illinois last weekend before dropping the final two contests. NU gave up two runs in the first inning of the opener, but shut down the Illini the rest of the way to win 9-2. The 'Cats scored two in the seventh and five in the eighth to break a tie game. Paul Snieder got the win, hurling three shutout innings in relief of Michael Jahns. Illinois jumped out to early leads each of the next two days, winning 6-3 on Saturday and 9-4 on Sunday.

Indiana took two of three games from Northwestern in Evanston last season. The Hoosiers held on to win Friday's opener 11-9 before the Wildcats bounced back for an 11-4 victory the following day. IU won Sunday's rubber game 1-0.

Scouting Indiana
The Hoosiers (25-19, 6-9 Big Ten) has lost seven in a row, including being swept in each of its last two Big Ten series vs. Minnesota and Michigan State. First-team All-American Alex Dickerson leads Indiana with a .367 batting average, six homers and 39 RBI. Joey DeNato leads all starting pitchers with a 5-3 record and a 2.96 ERA. Tracy Smith (157-172) is in his sixth season as head coach.

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